Thomson

It’s a heck of a way to run a pre-election campaign. On the eve of an expected election, politicians usually spend their time playing up good news, downplaying the bad, shaking hands and kissing babies.

18-year-old testifies against fellow suspect in case that saw woman, 64, stabbed in back (First published April 12, 2005)

MONTREAL - A violent carjacking that left a 64-year-old woman with three stab wounds in the back was the result of a simple meeting between two teens at a Montreal North Pizzeria, Youth Court was told yesterday.

The leadup to the Jan. 3 attack on Martha Taylor Gregory was described by an 18-year-old testifying against the only teen among four who has not pleaded guilty in the attack.

The accused, 14, faces seven charges including armed robbery.

The woman, who was using a walker at the time, survived the attack, but had to be hospitalized for several days.

The 18-year-old was originally charged with attempted murder, but that count was dropped when he agreed to plead guilty to armed robbery and other charges last month.

He was 17 at the time of the crime.

He awaits sentencing.

Wearing baggy jeans and a T-shirt that drooped almost to his knees, he testified in a voice barely above a whisper, prompting Judge Nicole Bernier to ask him several times to speak up.

His testimony shed no new light on why he decided to stab the woman.

Taylor Gregory has said in a videotaped statement that one push would have rendered her incapable of stopping the theft of her vehicle.

The 18-year-old said the idea to steal a car came from a 14-year-old who pulled up to the pizzeria where he was eating alone on the afternoon of Jan. 3.

The 14-year-old, who has also pleaded guilty in the case and is serving an 18-month term in a youth detention centre, was driving a stolen minivan and invited the older teen to join him for a ride.

The two knew each other from playing summer basketball at a neighbourhood court.

"He asked if I wanted to steal a car with him," the 18-year-old said matter-of-factly.

The pair left the pizzeria and picked up two other teens, including the 14-year-old who is now on trial.

The four drove around Montreal North for hours. They tried to steal another minivan but failed, he said.

Eventually they headed for a retirement condominium on Gouin Blvd. with the goal of stealing a car.

On the way there, the 18-year-old pulled out two knives, he said, but the teen on trial seemed to want no part in the scheme when he realized someone's life might be in danger.

As they pulled up to Taylor Gregory's car while she scraped ice off her windshield, "he said he didn't want to go," the witness said of the younger teen.

Prosecutor Karen Ohayon appears to be using the evidence to show that the accused knew a car was going to be stolen that day and had several chances to back out but did not.